New/First Build, Any advice or thoughts?

[tsgill714]

Hey guys, this is my first PC build ever. I've always been a console gamer and finally decided to switch to PC gaming because I'm not too interested in what Microsoft and Sony have to offer for the next generation consoles. I got interested in PCs every since I graduated High School and that was a few years ago. So I've been researching, doing my homework, and keeping up with everything for a good few years now. I feel that this is the perfect time for me to make the switch. This is the list I've come up with:

Case: Corsair Carbide Series Air 540
PSU: Corsair AX860i
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Hero Z87
CPU: Intel Core i7-4770k
Graphics Card: EVGA ACX Cooler GTX 780
Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum 16GB (2x8GB) 1600MHz
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i
Storage: 2 x Samsung 840 Pro 256GB
1 x Western Digital Black 2TB 7200RPM
Sound Card: Asus Xonar Essence STX 7.1
Optical Drive: LG Black 14x BD-ROM
Fans: 8 x Corsair SP120 PWM Performance Edition High Static Pressure
Fan Controller: Corsair Link Cooling and Lighting Kit
Monitor: Asus VG248QE Black 24" 144Hz
Keyboard: Corsair Vengeance K95
Mouse: Corsair Vengeance M65
Mousepad: Corsair Vengeance MM200 Standard
Headset: Astro A40 + MixAmp Pro
Microphone: Blue Yeti
Microphone Pop Filter: Nady MPF-6
Web Cam: Logitech C920 HD Pro
Speakers: Logitech Z623 2.1


I'm going to be placing the order for everything tomorrow. I already placed the order for the EVGA ACX GTX 780 last night because it was available on Newegg. I wanted to get it before it was sold out for another 2-3 weeks. Any input or advice you guys have would be greatly appreciated.

 

[sophiebeth100]

This build is pretty much flawless, but there's couple of things I would personally change to save a bit of cash. First of all, unless you plan to SLI in the future, then you won't need 860w, you'll barely need 650w, actually. I also wouldn't bother with the sound card, as unless you are a huge audiophile and do a lot of sound editing etc, you're not going to be able to tell the difference between the onboard sound and the sound card.

 

[jimthenagual]

If you're looking to save some money, you could drop to the i5 and not notice a difference in gaming performance. You could also drop one of your SSDs as well. It really depends on how happy you are with your build price, and with how many games you like to play that can actually make good use of an SSD. My main game is world of warcraft, and an SSD is basically eye candy for that type of game. Load screens are amazingly fast, but it doesn't affect gameplay at all. (Don't get me wrong, I love my SSD!)

Just offering some areas where, if you are wanting to, you could shave down on the price a bit.

Other notes if you want to save some money: 8Gb is enough for gaming. Also don't need the 'k' cpu unless you are OCing.

Really nice looking build by the way.

 

[TheBigTroll]

its a pretty good build, but this performs exactly the same for much cheaper
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1bucS

-really dont need a carbide 540
-no need for 850w nor platinum efficiency.
-the hero is a scam considering it offers around the same vrm as the gigabyte ud3h and less IO all for a higher price
-a 4770k is not for gaming
-if you want to spring for a 780, go ahead but generally a 770 is enough for 1080p
-dominator platinums are a scam. they perform the same for double the price
-get rid of cheap liquid coolers
-there is no reason to get riad 0 SSDs. if you were not to raid them, there is no reason to get more than 256gb of SSD storage anyways as 256gb is plenty for all the apps and games
-if you want 2tb, get a seagate drive as they are much much cheaper for the same quality.
-you better watch blu-rays or its useless
-you better be using some high end audiophile headphones to use that sound card. the astro a40 does not require such a sound source
-if you want your pc to sound like a jet engine, you can keep all those fans. they arent going to help you anyways
-you better try out 120hz panels before spilling on one. they are faster, but they suck in terms of colour accuracy

 

[Marcopolo123]

If you want a watercooler, get the swiftech h220

 

[Marcopolo123]

I mostly agree with thebigtroll.

Also newegg has nice cpu-motherboard combo deals (80-100$ off)
What is your budget ?


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($349.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Swiftech H220 55.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($139.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-PRO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($164.65 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.98 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 850W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($140.78 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG UH12NS29 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($49.98 @ Outlet PC)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor ($249.99 @ Newegg)
Other: Corsair air ($140.00)
Total: $1590.34
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-29 10:48 EDT-0400)

 

[tsgill714]

This build is pretty much flawless, but there's couple of things I would personally change to save a bit of cash. First of all, unless you plan to SLI in the future, then you won't need 860w, you'll barely need 650w, actually. I also wouldn't bother with the sound card, as unless you are a huge audiophile and do a lot of sound editing etc, you're not going to be able to tell the difference between the onboard sound and the sound card.

I went with the 860w because I do plan to SLI and set up a custom water loop with my CPU and GPUs. I only got the sound card to make full use of the Astro A40s because they require a 7.1 sound card with Dolby Digital Live. I wouldn't have gotten the sound card otherwise.

If you're looking to save some money, you could drop to the i5 and not notice a difference in gaming performance. You could also drop one of your SSDs as well. It really depends on how happy you are with your build price, and with how many games you like to play that can actually make good use of an SSD. My main game is world of warcraft, and an SSD is basically eye candy for that type of game. Load screens are amazingly fast, but it doesn't affect gameplay at all. (Don't get me wrong, I love my SSD!)

Just offering some areas where, if you are wanting to, you could shave down on the price a bit.

Other notes if you want to save some money: 8Gb is enough for gaming. Also don't need the 'k' cpu unless you are OCing.

Really nice looking build by the way.

I got the i7 4770K because I do plan on overclocking and doing some video editing and processing. The first SSD will be my main drive with my OS, programs, and games. The second one will be for video recording. I play mostly first person shooters. The main one I play is Battlefield 3. The reason for the 16GB was because of the video editing and processing I'm going to be doing.

its a pretty good build, but this performs exactly the same for much cheaper
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1bucS

-really dont need a carbide 540
-no need for 850w nor platinum efficiency.
-the hero is a scam considering it offers around the same vrm as the gigabyte ud3h and less IO all for a higher price
-a 4770k is not for gaming
-if you want to spring for a 780, go ahead but generally a 770 is enough for 1080p
-dominator platinums are a scam. they perform the same for double the price
-get rid of cheap liquid coolers
-there is no reason to get riad 0 SSDs. if you were not to raid them, there is no reason to get more than 256gb of SSD storage anyways as 256gb is plenty for all the apps and games
-if you want 2tb, get a seagate drive as they are much much cheaper for the same quality.
-you better watch blu-rays or its useless
-you better be using some high end audiophile headphones to use that sound card. the astro a40 does not require such a sound source
-if you want your pc to sound like a jet engine, you can keep all those fans. they arent going to help you anyways
-you better try out 120hz panels before spilling on one. they are faster, but they suck in terms of colour accuracy

-With cases I think it's more of personal preference. I know I don't need the Air 540 but I really like the case. I like the cube form factor and how all the important parts can be put on one side and everything else, especially all the optical bays, hard drive cages, and wires can be hidden away in the back. I really wish Corsair had made the Air 540 an Obsidian series and not a Carbide Series. IF Corsair does make an Obsidian series of that case, I will be switching from the Carbide Air 540 and getting the Obsidian version.
-I got the 860w just so I have plenty of room to add to my build in the future. I do plan to SLI, if Nvidia's Maxwell isn't a big jump from the GTX 780. I also plan to set up custom water loop with my CPU and GPU.
- I was debating between the Gigabyte UD3H and Asus Hero because I wasn't sure if I was going to go with a blue or red themed build. I really wanted to go with blue but Asus is second to none when it comes to performance and quality.
-I got the i7 4770K because I will also be doing video editing and processing.
-I got the EVGA GTX 780 because I want to be able to play games consistently at the highest possible settings at high frame rates.
-I went with 16GB of Corsair dominator platinum because they not only perform well but they look great. Also, they're pretty cheap now if you get them from Amazon. They're around the same price as any other well known brand.
-This is my first build ever, so I wasn't comfortable going with a full custom water loop for my CPU and GPU just yet. I figured I could just start out by getting an AIO water cooler for my CPU and a year down the road set up a full custom water loop for my CPU and GPU. When I do set up my custom water loop, I'll probably get the hydro copper version of EVGAs next generation graphics card.
-I will be setting up my SSDs in raid 0. The first SSD will be my main drive with my OS, programs, and games. The second will be used for recording videos, mainly gameplay.
-I went with Western Digital because I've been using their external hard drives for ages now and their quality is second to none. I've never had a single problem with them. I just went with the brand I trusted most.
-I do have Blu-ray movies that I watch. I very close to not getting an optical drive all together because the only reason I would need it is to install my OS and a couple of programs. I could have used a portable DVD drive for that, but since I have Blu-ray movies I just went ahead and got the Blu-ray player.
-I got the sound card because the Astro A40s require a 7.1 sound card with Dolby Digital Live to make full use of them.
-I'm using the Corsair Link Cooling and Lighting Kit to control the speeds of all of my fans. I specifically got the PWM versions because they work best with Corsair Link. I'm also going to be doing a push pull with the H100i. I wanted to get some AF120s for the front of the case and one for the exhaust at the back but Corsair doesn't have PWM version of that fan yet.
-I've seen 120hz monitors in person and they're amazingly smooth. Of course the colors won't be won't be as good as an IPS monitor, but the colors are not that terrible with 120hz monitors. Plus I would be wasting the power of the GTX 780 if I went with a 60hz monitor.

If you want a watercooler, get the swiftech h220

I've heard of a lot of problems with the H220 and since I'm using Corsair Link I went with the H100i. Also, the performance isn't that much better with the Swiftech H220 to justify spending 60 more dollars on it.

I mostly agree with thebigtroll.

Also newegg has nice cpu-motherboard combo deals (80-100$ off)
What is your budget ?


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($349.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Swiftech H220 55.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($139.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-PRO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($164.65 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.98 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 850W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($140.78 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG UH12NS29 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($49.98 @ Outlet PC)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor ($249.99 @ Newegg)
Other: Corsair air ($140.00)
Total: $1590.34
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-29 10:48 EDT-0400)

My budget was around $4500-$5000. I've priced everything so far and it comes out to $4300. That's with taxes and shipping. I'm going to get most of the stuff from Amazon because I have Amazon Prime. I'm only going to be buying parts that Amazon is selling directly. I won't be buying anything that is sold by a third party because I don't want any issues if I have to return something. I'm buying just a couple of things from Newegg and I'm getting the Case and Corsair Link Kit from Corsair's website.

 

[TheBigTroll]

its a pretty good build, but this performs exactly the same for much cheaper
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1bucS

-really dont need a carbide 540
-no need for 850w nor platinum efficiency.
-the hero is a scam considering it offers around the same vrm as the gigabyte ud3h and less IO all for a higher price
-a 4770k is not for gaming
-if you want to spring for a 780, go ahead but generally a 770 is enough for 1080p
-dominator platinums are a scam. they perform the same for double the price
-get rid of cheap liquid coolers
-there is no reason to get riad 0 SSDs. if you were not to raid them, there is no reason to get more than 256gb of SSD storage anyways as 256gb is plenty for all the apps and games
-if you want 2tb, get a seagate drive as they are much much cheaper for the same quality.
-you better watch blu-rays or its useless
-you better be using some high end audiophile headphones to use that sound card. the astro a40 does not require such a sound source
-if you want your pc to sound like a jet engine, you can keep all those fans. they arent going to help you anyways
-you better try out 120hz panels before spilling on one. they are faster, but they suck in terms of colour accuracy

-With cases I think it's more of personal preference. I know I don't need the Air 540 but I really like the case. I like the cube form factor and how all the important parts can be put on one side and everything else, especially all the optical bays, hard drive cages, and wires can be hidden away in the back. I really wish Corsair had made the Air 540 an Obsidian series and not a Carbide Series. IF Corsair does make an Obsidian series of that case, I will be switching from the Carbide Air 540 and getting the Obsidian version.
-I got the 860w just so I have plenty of room to add to my build in the future. I do plan to SLI, if Nvidia's Maxwell isn't a big jump from the GTX 780. I also plan to set up custom water loop with my CPU and GPU.
- I was debating between the Gigabyte UD3H and Asus Hero because I wasn't sure if I was going to go with a blue or red themed build. I really wanted to go with blue but Asus is second to none when it comes to performance and quality.
-I got the i7 4770K because I will also be doing video editing and processing.
-I got the EVGA GTX 780 because I want to be able to play games consistently at the highest possible settings at high frame rates.
-I went with 16GB of Corsair dominator platinum because they not only perform well but they look great. Also, they're pretty cheap now if you get them from Amazon. They're around the same price as any other well known brand.
-This is my first build ever, so I wasn't comfortable going with a full custom water loop for my CPU and GPU just yet. I figured I could just start out by getting an AIO water cooler for my CPU and a year down the road set up a full custom water loop for my CPU and GPU. When I do set up my custom water loop, I'll probably get the hydro copper version of EVGAs next generation graphics card.
-I will be setting up my SSDs in raid 0. The first SSD will be my main drive with my OS, programs, and games. The second will be used for recording videos, mainly gameplay.
-I went with Western Digital because I've been using their external hard drives for ages now and their quality is second to none. I've never had a single problem with them. I just went with the brand I trusted most.
-I do have Blu-ray movies that I watch. I very close to not getting an optical drive all together because the only reason I would need it is to install my OS and a couple of programs. I could have used a portable DVD drive for that, but since I have Blu-ray movies I just went ahead and got the Blu-ray player.
-I got the sound card because the Astro A40s require a 7.1 sound card with Dolby Digital Live to make full use of them.
-I'm using the Corsair Link Cooling and Lighting Kit to control the speeds of all of my fans. I specifically got the PWM versions because they work best with Corsair Link. I'm also going to be doing a push pull with the H100i. I wanted to get some AF120s for the front of the case and one for the exhaust at the back but Corsair doesn't have PWM version of that fan yet.
-I've seen 120hz monitors in person and they're amazingly smooth. Of course the colors won't be won't be as good as an IPS monitor, but the colors are not that terrible with 120hz monitors. Plus I would be wasting the power of the GTX 780 if I went with a 60hz monitor.


-fair enough on the case. it looks pretty cool anyways
-no. asus boards perform the same if not less. if a maximus 6 extreme overclocks less than a sniper m5 which has a slightly lower grade vrm than the ud3h, there is no reason to get asus
-nope. they dont perform any better than the rest of the ram. and no where near the cheapest good kit i can find
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211701&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=
-if you want to waste the money on the warranty, i have no reason to stop you for that. just remember that the seagate drive will overall have a lower chance of failing due to having less components inside
-actually, all boards have 7.1 sound already.
-first of all, you will not be controlling the speed of your fans often. its going to be a one time thing, thereby wasting the point of corsair link. second, fan control provided by the board is more than enough to get all the curves up and running, thereby you dont need the corsair link kit. 3rd, push pull on a cheapo h100i wont improve performance, but increase noise output. if you want proper cooling, get a h220 from swfitech. nothing less. the h220 also has enough pump power to drive 2 GPUs and a few rads if you want to expand in the future

 

[Marcopolo123]

"Gaming"(marketing) headsets are generaly overpriced audio gear with the sound quality of cheaper headphones. Why buying a headset if you also purchase a mic ?
7.1, 5.1 are ... Better buy a good stereo headphone.

4300$ custome watercooling included ? Otherwise its just ...

 

[TheBigTroll]

yeah you can build 2 2000 dollar builds that perform exactly the same as the on listed already

 

[tsgill714]

its a pretty good build, but this performs exactly the same for much cheaper
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1bucS

-really dont need a carbide 540
-no need for 850w nor platinum efficiency.
-the hero is a scam considering it offers around the same vrm as the gigabyte ud3h and less IO all for a higher price
-a 4770k is not for gaming
-if you want to spring for a 780, go ahead but generally a 770 is enough for 1080p
-dominator platinums are a scam. they perform the same for double the price
-get rid of cheap liquid coolers
-there is no reason to get riad 0 SSDs. if you were not to raid them, there is no reason to get more than 256gb of SSD storage anyways as 256gb is plenty for all the apps and games
-if you want 2tb, get a seagate drive as they are much much cheaper for the same quality.
-you better watch blu-rays or its useless
-you better be using some high end audiophile headphones to use that sound card. the astro a40 does not require such a sound source
-if you want your pc to sound like a jet engine, you can keep all those fans. they arent going to help you anyways
-you better try out 120hz panels before spilling on one. they are faster, but they suck in terms of colour accuracy

-With cases I think it's more of personal preference. I know I don't need the Air 540 but I really like the case. I like the cube form factor and how all the important parts can be put on one side and everything else, especially all the optical bays, hard drive cages, and wires can be hidden away in the back. I really wish Corsair had made the Air 540 an Obsidian series and not a Carbide Series. IF Corsair does make an Obsidian series of that case, I will be switching from the Carbide Air 540 and getting the Obsidian version.
-I got the 860w just so I have plenty of room to add to my build in the future. I do plan to SLI, if Nvidia's Maxwell isn't a big jump from the GTX 780. I also plan to set up custom water loop with my CPU and GPU.
- I was debating between the Gigabyte UD3H and Asus Hero because I wasn't sure if I was going to go with a blue or red themed build. I really wanted to go with blue but Asus is second to none when it comes to performance and quality.
-I got the i7 4770K because I will also be doing video editing and processing.
-I got the EVGA GTX 780 because I want to be able to play games consistently at the highest possible settings at high frame rates.
-I went with 16GB of Corsair dominator platinum because they not only perform well but they look great. Also, they're pretty cheap now if you get them from Amazon. They're around the same price as any other well known brand.
-This is my first build ever, so I wasn't comfortable going with a full custom water loop for my CPU and GPU just yet. I figured I could just start out by getting an AIO water cooler for my CPU and a year down the road set up a full custom water loop for my CPU and GPU. When I do set up my custom water loop, I'll probably get the hydro copper version of EVGAs next generation graphics card.
-I will be setting up my SSDs in raid 0. The first SSD will be my main drive with my OS, programs, and games. The second will be used for recording videos, mainly gameplay.
-I went with Western Digital because I've been using their external hard drives for ages now and their quality is second to none. I've never had a single problem with them. I just went with the brand I trusted most.
-I do have Blu-ray movies that I watch. I very close to not getting an optical drive all together because the only reason I would need it is to install my OS and a couple of programs. I could have used a portable DVD drive for that, but since I have Blu-ray movies I just went ahead and got the Blu-ray player.
-I got the sound card because the Astro A40s require a 7.1 sound card with Dolby Digital Live to make full use of them.
-I'm using the Corsair Link Cooling and Lighting Kit to control the speeds of all of my fans. I specifically got the PWM versions because they work best with Corsair Link. I'm also going to be doing a push pull with the H100i. I wanted to get some AF120s for the front of the case and one for the exhaust at the back but Corsair doesn't have PWM version of that fan yet.
-I've seen 120hz monitors in person and they're amazingly smooth. Of course the colors won't be won't be as good as an IPS monitor, but the colors are not that terrible with 120hz monitors. Plus I would be wasting the power of the GTX 780 if I went with a 60hz monitor.


-fair enough on the case. it looks pretty cool anyways
-no. asus boards perform the same if not less. if a maximus 6 extreme overclocks less than a sniper m5 which has a slightly lower grade vrm than the ud3h, there is no reason to get asus
-nope. they dont perform any better than the rest of the ram. and no where near the cheapest good kit i can find
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211701&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=
-if you want to waste the money on the warranty, i have no reason to stop you for that. just remember that the seagate drive will overall have a lower chance of failing due to having less components inside
-actually, all boards have 7.1 sound already.
-first of all, you will not be controlling the speed of your fans often. its going to be a one time thing, thereby wasting the point of corsair link. second, fan control provided by the board is more than enough to get all the curves up and running, thereby you dont need the corsair link kit. 3rd, push pull on a cheapo h100i wont improve performance, but increase noise output. if you want proper cooling, get a h220 from swfitech. nothing less. the h220 also has enough pump power to drive 2 GPUs and a few rads if you want to expand in the future

-Asus and Gigabyte are the top two board makers out there. Asus still sells the most motherboards than any other company, and that means something. I hate how they changed their color theme to gold this year for their other boards. I chose the Asus Hero because of the quality, performance, features and looks. The Asus VI Extreme is a complete waste, unless someone is trying to reach ridiculous OC speeds with really good custom cooling. For the everyday gamer though it's not necessary.
-I never said Corsair Dominator Platinum preformed better. Personally, it's the best looking RAM kit out there at a competitive price compared to other high end RAM kits.
-Not all boards have 7.1 and Dolby Digital Live. The Astro A40s require Dolby Digital Live. It comes down to if companies want to license Dolby Digital Live to put on their motherboards. Most of them don't want to do that because the price of the boards will go up by a lot which would drive away consumers. That's why I had to get a sound card and on board audio will never be as good as a dedicated sound card.
-Corsair Link is more of a luxury and I know I don't need it. But it's only $75 and I can control everything from one program. Plus the motherboard would get messy trying to plug in 8 fans and using Y splitters. I also get LEDs with the Corsair Link Kit and I can control them from the program as well.
-The H220 performs a little better than the H100i but not enough to make me want it more, especially when it looks that ugly. The H100i performs very well and looks nice. Besides it's best to set up a custom loop instead of trying to expand on the H220. I'm planning on doing a custom loop maybe in a years time. This is my first build so I didn't want to jump right in to a custom water cooling.

"Gaming"(marketing) headsets are generaly overpriced audio gear with the sound quality of cheaper headphones. Why buying a headset if you also purchase a mic ?
7.1, 5.1 are ... Better buy a good stereo headphone.

4300$ custome watercooling included ? Otherwise its just ...

I chose the Astro A40s because of the surround sound. The Astro A40s are good for gaming and that's what I'm going to use them for. I won't be listening to music with those headphones. I have a 5.1 home theater system set up in my room so I just listen to music on there. I didn't do custom water cooling because this is my first build and I'm not comfortable jumping in to that right off the bat. The next time I get a new graphics card, maybe in a year or two, that's when I'll set up custom water cooling. Everything came out to $4300 because this is my first build, so I had to buy everything new.

 

[tsgill714]

yeah you can build 2 2000 dollar builds that perform exactly the same as the on listed already

Do you not understand that I had to buy all the peripherals along with the components? If I was trying to penny pinch then I could have built it for much cheaper, but I don't need to penny pinch. I'm not trying to go with something that's going to be cheap now and then have to end up replacing it 2 years down the road. Aesthetics also had a good deal to do with why I chose specific components. I'm from California so we have high taxes. The total was just under $4300. Out of that $300 was taxes and about $100 for shipping.

 

[TheBigTroll]

it doesnt matter if you blow the money for it or not. if it doesnt do anything extra for you, what is the point of buying it?

regarding to the hero board

performance: when a maximus extreme does not perform better than this board, there is no way in life that the hero can perform better

quality: the gigabyte uses the IR3353 drivers which have a 40A rated output (exclusive to gigabyte). the only one that is better than the IR3553 is the IR3550 which can pump out 60A a piece (also exclusive to gigabyte). they are THE BEST drivers you can get a for a board. if you are talking about the rest of the board, the gigabyte and the asus are the same.

features: it has less features. i dont know where that came from but ok.

also note the fact that you are buying a sound card, effectively wasting the onboard sound found on the hero, which is the main reason to get one

 

[Marcopolo123]

I would wait for asus z87 formula

 

[TheBigTroll]

its even worse. its like a sabertooth which is already a total scam slapped with a hero board that doesnt perform better than any other of their mainstream series boards

 

[tsgill714]

it doesnt matter if you blow the money for it or not. if it doesnt do anything extra for you, what is the point of buying it?

regarding to the hero board

performance: when a maximus extreme does not perform better than this board, there is no way in life that the hero can perform better

quality: the gigabyte uses the IR3353 drivers which have a 40A rated output (exclusive to gigabyte). the only one that is better than the IR3553 is the IR3550 which can pump out 60A a piece (also exclusive to gigabyte). they are THE BEST drivers you can get a for a board. if you are talking about the rest of the board, the gigabyte and the asus are the same.

features: it has less features. i dont know where that came from but ok.

also note the fact that you are buying a sound card, effectively wasting the onboard sound found on the hero, which is the main reason to get one

I don't know if you're getting paid to push the Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H or you're a huge Gigabyte fan. I looked through about 3-4 different threads on Tom's Hardware and in each thread you pushed the Z87X-UD3H on each person, when there are clearly other great boards out there. Each time you bring up the VRM components. People don't shop for boards just by look at the VRM components, I bet more than half the people don't even understand the purpose of those components. I'm not saying you're wrong in saying that it may provide similar performance, but there's many factors that go into buying a board and each person ranks each factor differently.

It's like shopping for a car, if you have a choice between a Mercedes Benz and a Toyota, and you have the means to purchase either car, 9/10 people would get the Benz. Then you come in and say, no get the Toyota, because it's cheaper and it still gets you from point A to point B. What if people aren't shopping for that reason. They want to look at the features of the car, what unique services the manufacturer provides for each car, which has a better quality fit and finish, what unique color options does each manufacturer have. You can't say buying the Benz would be a waste to each person that wants to purchase it because it does the same thing as the Toyota, get someone from point A to point B. Your perception of the price of the car versus how that car makes you feel, will not be the same as everyone else.

The same goes for motherboards. People look at the color of the motherboards, the lay out of the PCIe 3.0 and PCIe x 1 slots, how well the UEFI looks visually, how well the UEFI functions, how easy is it to overclock, and many more features and functions of different motherboard manufacturers provide.
You can't assume that everyone will like the board just because it performs the same and has a lower price than the board they want. You can't justify getting a board just by bringing up VRM each and every time. You cannot justify that a board is better because it's cheaper and performs the same when there's so many other individual personal factors that go into selecting a motherboard.

For the third time, the sound card is for the Astro A40s. They require Dolby Digital Live in order to function to their full potential.

its even worse. its like a sabertooth which is already a total scam slapped with a hero board that doesnt perform better than any other of their mainstream series boards

There you go again with, "It doesn't perform any better, so why get it", do you repeat the same thing to everyone that wants a certain motherboard besides the Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H?

P.S. I'll be happy to link the threads to where you blatantly push the Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H on everyone.

 

[DSzymborski]

People take the time to answer your question and your response is to track down their previous responses and imply they have an ulterior motive for making their suggestions. That someone who likes a part recommends that part is about the least shocking discovery ever.

And yes, some of your parts are just to spend money. If you don't like the answer, don't ask the question. A lot of your choices aren't anything like the choice between a Toyota and a Mercedes, but between a Mercedes and an identical Mercedes with an extremely expensive racing stripe. If you had added "complimentary comments only" to your title, you could've saved the other posters some of their time.

 

[tsgill714]

People take the time to answer your question and your response is to track down their previous responses and imply they have an ulterior motive for making their suggestions. That someone who likes a part recommends that part is about the least shocking discovery ever.

And yes, some of your parts are just to spend money. If you don't like the answer, don't ask the question. A lot of your choices aren't anything like the choice between a Toyota and a Mercedes, but between a Mercedes and an identical Mercedes with an extremely expensive racing stripe. If you had added "complimentary comments only" to your title, you could've saved the other posters some of their time.

I didn't track down his previous posts. I was doing my research on the Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H and the first three searches were threads from Tom's Hardware which TheBigTroll had answered on. I took criticism and I said why I bought what I bought. Not many people criticized the build, a lot were trying to just help out to try and help me save money, which I understand completely. I know some things I got were not necessary and do not add any performance to the build but it was for aesthetics and making things easier. I didn't spend money to just spend money, I spent money to make things a bit easier and to aesthetically make the build look nice.

It can't possibly be like comparing two identical Mercedes because the board manufacturers are two totally different companies. Maybe it could be a Mercedes and a BMW, but definitely not two identical cars from Mercedes, that doesn't make sense.

After trying to put my build together, I think the motherboard was the hardest part to make a decision on. I flip flopped for about 2-3 days on either the Gigabyte UD3H or Asus Hero. I really had to go out and read every review, read the specs, watch videos, and go on the forums and read up on the boards. In the end I went with the Asus Hero, which is only $40 more than the Gigabyte UD3H, hardly a difference. Nothing worth complaining about. If I had gone with the Asus VI Extreme for my build and TheBigTroll had said, stop that would be a stupid buy and he explained to me why, I would go with the Gigabyte UD3H. There's a huge difference between the price of an Asus Extreme and Gigabyte UD3H. But I did my homework and researched everything about each part I chose and there's a reason behind purchasing each part.

Another tossup was the mechanical hard drive, I went with past first hand experience and got the Western Digital. Then again I could have gotten a cheaper sound card as well for about $90 that supported Dolby Digital Live and performed good enough for the Astro A40s, but the sound card would look horrible in the case. The Asus Xonar Essence STX looks so much better with that covering on it. I didn't pick the parts to see how I could spend the most amount of money, there was careful thought put into choosing everything.

My budget was a maximum of $5000 and I came well under at $4300 with all taxes and shipping costs. Always good to be under budget.

 

[Marcopolo123]

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[TheBigTroll]

i dont see why i wouldnt push for the ud3h when the other boards dont offer something that is superior and is cheaper given the combo deal. if it wasnt for the combo deal i would have suggested to go with something like a z87-a or a msi gd45 gaming